The present invention relates to a power device.
Electrical equipment is designed to supply power to a load from a power source such as a battery. In order to control the power to be supplied, a power device is provided between the battery and the load. When the power device fails and is shorted, an excess current flows and the electrical system may be damaged. Thus, a mechanical fuse is provided in the electrical equipment in the case where the electrical system fails due to a short circuit.
In relation to the power device, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 10(1998)-12806 discloses a semiconductor device. The semiconductor device includes: an insulating substrate having a conductor pattern; a semiconductor chip provided on the insulating substrate and having an electrode; a case surrounding the insulating substrate; a bonding wire that is electrically coupled to at least one of the conductor pattern on the insulating substrate, and the electrode of the semiconductor chip; and an arc-extinguishing material with which the case is filled to seal at least the bonding wire. In this semiconductor device, a predetermined bonding wire is fused and cut when an excess current flows. The bonding wire is sealed with the arc-extinguishing material in order to prevent fire or explosion caused by the fusing of the bonding wire.
As another example of the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 9(1997)-266226 discloses a high current semiconductor device. In the high current semiconductor device, a large number of unit cells are arranged in parallel. At least one of the main electrode regions of the semiconductor device is divided into at least two separate bonding pad regions. One end of each bonding wire is coupled to the bonding pad. The other end of each bonding wire is coupled to a common external terminal. Wire open failure is detected by measuring the ON resistance of the semiconductor device.
Further, as still another example of the related art, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-135093 discloses a hot swap protection device. The hot swap protection device includes a split-gate switching device including a first metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) device with a first gate electrode, as well as a second MOSFET device with a second gate electrode. The hot swap protection device also includes a current limiting device coupled to the first gate electrode to control the first MOSFET device during operation in the current limiting mode. Further, the hot swap protection device includes a comparator device coupled to the first and second control electrodes to turn on the second MOSFET device during operation in the current non-limiting mode.